“Yes, Grandmother.” Horseweed trotted toward the fire, where Oxbalm stood.
Sumac and Kestrel stared into each other’s eyes, probing the depths of each other’s soul. In the background, Kestrel heard Harrier cursing Oxbalm, and the old man calmly answering, “My wife has spoken. You heard her, didn’t you, Harrier?”
Harrier waved his arms angrily and began a tirade.
“It won’t be easy,” Sumac said, covering Harrier’s words. “Harrier and his brothers have put in a claim on you. They want to take you back to their village to be punished for Buffalo Bird’s murder. But you’re welcome here, Kestrel. We’ll do our best to keep you safe … if you decide to stay.”
Kestrel smiled wanly. “Iceplant was right. He told me you were good people. But… I need to talk with Sunchaser about it. To find out his plans. Where is he?”
Sumac peered intently at the pack in Kestrel’s arms, then led her to the entry of the far lodge.
They both ducked beneath the door flap, and Kestrel saw Sunchaser lying, just as Horseweed had said, beneath a pile of hides. Helper lay beside him with his black muzzle on his paws. He wagged his tail when he saw Kestrel. A small fire burned a few hands away, throwing a golden veil over the Dreamer’s handsome face. Sumac had combed and braided Sunchaser’s white hair. The long plait rested over his bandaged shoulder. His eyelids trembled, as if in the throes of a powerful Dream.
Quietly, Kestrel went to kneel beside him. She put her dead son down on the edge of the hides and leaned over to look at Sunchaser’s pale face. Helper rose and trotted around to sniff the pack with the dead baby inside, then flopped down beside Kestrel, his black ears pricked. She patted his side. Sunchaser lay deathly still. To reassure herself, she pushed the hides away to see the rise and fall of his broad chest. Relief flooded her. She didn’t want to awaken him, but she had to touch him. Gently, she smoothed her fingers over Sunchaser’s sweating forehead.
He stirred. In a barely audible voice, he asked, “.. . All right?”
“Yes,” she answered. “Lambkill is dead, and I’m safe. Horseweed found me. He brought me back.”
“.. . Love you,” he whispered.
Sunchaser’s head rolled to the side instantly, and his body went limp. Kestrel put her hand on his chest, feeling his lungs working. She frowned with concern as she pulled the hides back up to shield him from the cold. Her old eyes shining, Sumac knelt beside her. “I think he was trying to stay awake until you returned … to make sure you were unharmed.” Kestrel tenderly squeezed Sunchaser’s hand, and all of her strength vanished at once. She sat back on the hard-packed floor and braced her elbows on her drawn-up knees. The flickering of the fire threw strange shadows on the wall to
her left, like animals fighting a battle to the death.
“I’m so tired, Sumac.”
The old woman nodded. “You must get some sleep. But before I find hides for you, could we talk for a while?”
“Yes. What do you wish to know?”
Sumac shifted to sit cross-legged beside Kestrel. Her brow furrowed deeply. “Your little girl.”
“Is … is Cloud Girl all right?” Kestrel felt the ground quaking beneath her again. “Did something happen?”
“No, no, she’s fine. But I’m worried. I’ve been watching Harrier and his brothers. They have a mean streak. I’m afraid that if they can’t get back at you … well, children are so vulnerable.”
Kestrel steepled her fingers over her mouth and nodded. “I think, Sumac, that the best thing for all of us—including your village—is for me to take my girl and just go away. Last night, I realized for the first time that coming here was wrong. I wish I’d—”
Sumac gripped her wrist hard. “No, it wasn’t wrong. Now you know you have family. Your children will always have a place to come to, people who love them. Everyone needs to know such things. Especially children. Don’t be sorry you came here. I’m not.”
Tears blurred Kestrel’s vision. She patted Sumac’s hand. “We’ll come back often, I promise. I want Iceplant’s daughter to grow up knowing you.”
“Good.” Sumac released Kestrel’s hand, and her gaze shifted to rest on the small pack that lay beside Sunchaser. “That’s the dead baby, isn’t it? Lambkill never showed him to us, but I heard people say that’s what he carried in that pack.”
“Yes. That’s the dead baby.”
Sumac searched Kestrel’s face, noting every line. “Do you want me to take it away? I could take it outside and put it beneath the hide beside Tannin. He’s under that big oak tree to the north of the village. Oxbalm posted a guard, to keep the predators away.”